We are a commune of inquiring, skeptical, politically centrist, capitalist, anglophile, traditionalist New England Yankee humans, humanoids, and animals with many interests beyond and above politics. Each of us has had a high-school education (or GED), but all had ADD so didn't pay attention very well, especially the dogs. Each one of us does "try my best to be just like I am," and none of us enjoys working for others, including for Maggie, from whom we receive neither a nickel nor a dime. Freedom from nags, cranks, government, do-gooders, control-freaks and idiots is all that we ask for.

BD - Once again, it's simply incredible how alike our two native states of CA and CT are, even discounting the fact that both start with the letter 'C' and are composed of 10 to 11 letters, a claim no other state, or even nation, can make.

"Smoking, as it turns out, “is a preexisting medical condition,” according to Dr. Mohammad Akhter, the chairman of the D.C. Health Exchange Board. Two liberal states, California and Connecticut, have decided likewise,"

Thanks for the heads-up. Great article! I would hope it becomes a thwack-on-the-side-of-the-head for those who are yet unaware of how much our culture has changed since the early days of The Twilight Zone.

In 2008, I thought it would be interesting to see the Chicago Machine politics try thrive in the open field of national politics. My presumption was that it would be exposed and prosecuted. I was wrong, very wrong.

Interesting aside, the NY city gun ban was first imposed to exploit a tragedy but many suspected its real purpose was to control machine cronies.

QUOTE:

Others were skeptical of the motives of Sullivan, notorious for his association with the underworld. “Cynics suggested that Big Tim pushed through his law so Tammany could keep their gangster allies under control,” wrote Richard F. Welch in his 2009 biography, “King of the Bowery: Big Tim Sullivan, Tammany Hall, and New York City from the Gilded Age to the Progressive Era.”

I shopped JCPenney online for years, having switched over from their catalog. They were reliable purveyors of basics. I could get good women's Oxford shirts for example. One day lasat year I went on-line to buy some more of these shirts. They had posted a notice that the entire line was being discontinued, and I could buy some now at sales prices. I did, and never went back.

I'm the customer they hate. Middle-aged, not terribly fashionable. But I easily spent $1000 a year there on basics that they don't carry any more.

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